What To Know About The Bluetooth NLC Standard

David Shiller April 26, 2024

Yesterday’s LightNOW post was about the Design Lights Consortium DRAFT Networked Lighting Control v5.1 standard (DLC NLC5.1). This post is about another NLC industry standard, the Bluetooth NLC standard. In September, 2023, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the completion of Bluetooth Networked Lighting Control (NLC), the first full-stack standard for wireless lighting control. Bluetooth NLC creates standardization from the radio through the device layer, which enables multi-vendor interoperability, easier deployment, greater scalability, and increased adoption of wireless lighting control.

The new standard covers six device roles: occupancy sensor, ambient light sensor, energy monitor, scene selector, dimming control, and lightness controller. One hardware device can embody multiple roles. The key is all devices in the system are interoperable and interchangeable, regardless of manufacturer.

More information is available in this Electrical Contractor article by Craig DiLouie, here.

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and Senior Business Development Consultant at Capacity Consulting, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has been co-chair of the ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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